Visinet: Collaborative 3D Visualization and VR over ATM Networks

Computer-supported collaborative workover networks has become an important

research topic over the past few years, including in theVisinet project. The Visinet participants conducted tri-als of new CSCW methods based on virtual representa-tion and virtual reality techniques over trans-EuropeanATM networks. Designers, architects, city planners, andengineers worked collaboratively with virtual 3D mod-els from locations in the Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Ire-land, Portugal, and Switzerland (see the sidebar “Listof Visinet Partners”).

The project started in August1994, but, owing to delays in theavailability of the trans-EuropeanATM pilot network, user trials didnot begin until January 1995. Trialsare still ongoing at the time of thiswriting, now using the James net-work.

Visinet is part of the TEN-IBC(Trans-European Networks, Inte-grated Broadband Communica-tions) program, one of the RACEsubprograms (the European Com-mission’s Fourth Framework R&Dprogram). In TEN-IBC, common-interest groups of users and appli-cation developers from differentindustry sectors explore the poten-tial for using ATM networks to let

people located throughout Europe work together on thesame design project. Visinet connects partners in theEuropean countries mentioned above via the EuropeanATM network. Using these connections, project mem-bers have investigated different scenarios and dissemi-nated the results widely.1,2

ObjectivesThe main objectives of the Visinet trial were to

■ Demonstrate the use of broadband communications■ Provide advanced systems on an “as required” basis,

using off-the-shelf applications■ Evaluate the performance of new interactive tools,

such as virtual representation in a distributed envi-ronment

■ Evaluate whether broadband will shorten the design-

Wim Lamotte, Eddy Flerackers, and Frank Van ReethUniversity of Limburg

Rae EarnshawUniversity of Bradford

Joao Mena De MatosEuropean Design Centre

Visinet:Collaborative 3DVisualization andVR over ATMNetworks

0272-1716/97/$10.00 © 1997 IEEE

3D and Multimedia on the Information Superhighway

66 March-April 1997

Visinet—a trans-European

3D collaborative design

project—brings people

together in shared

environments supported by

ATM networks. Initial trials

targeted architectural and

industrial design.

List of Visinet PartnersSix European countries are represented in the

Visinet project:

■ The Netherlands—European Design Centre,Eindhoven; City of Eindhoven; PhilipsDevelopment Workshop, Eindhoven; PlazaOntwerpers, Eindhoven; Moons & Van HoofIndustrial Design, Eindhoven; PTT Post, theHague; ElectroGIG, Amsterdam

■ Belgium—Limburg University Centre,Diepenbeek; Philips Interactive Media Centre,Hasselt; Androme, Diepenbeek; Brics, Gent;Alcatel Telecom, Antwerpen

■ Portugal—Adetti, Lisbon; Oficina deArquitectura, Lisbon; NovoDesign, Lisbon

■ UK—University of Bradford, Bradford;Engineering Technology, Derby; Division,Bristol; Ukerna, Oxford; Analysys, Cambridge

■ Ireland—Trinity College Dublin, Dublin■ Switzerland—University of Geneva, Geneva;

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne,Lausanne

.

to-product lead times and increase quality throughcollaborative working

■ Identify the commercial benefits of remote CAD overbroadband; measure these benefits where possible

■ Determine the potential size of the common-interestgroup

■ Increase awareness among potential users of remoteCAD and virtual representation

■ Identify obstacles to adoption of remote virtual rep-resentation

■ Stimulate activity of CAD tool vendors and users inbroadband communications

■ Examine the extent to which use of network-basedinteractive technologies will result in the reengi-neering of the entire design and production process

■ Disseminate the information on Visinet widely in thecommunity

■ Promote discussion and debate, and ensure new usershave ready access to the information, such as throughworkshops and one-day projects with end users

■ Examine the integration of heterogeneous networksand platforms

■ Integrate ISDN into the Visinet ATM network

Overview of the scenariosThe trial applications fall into four different types, as

follows.

Scenario 1: Remote presentation. The clientasks the design center to present virtual 3D representa-tions and visualizations over the broadband network.The designers and client then discuss the results on line,using voice and/or video (see Figure 1).

Scenario 2: Remote program execution. Theremote execution scenario (see Figure 2) resembles theremote presentation scenario, but the users themselvesperform the actions—“treatment” of the virtual modelor prototype—rendering the results on the computingcenter’s machine. No interaction with the designerstakes place in this scenario.

Scenario 3: Collaborative work. Different siteswork together on the same database to take advantageof each other’s expertise in real time and to allow imme-diate intervention at any point in the design cycle (seeFigure 3).

Scenario 4: Virtual supercomputing. The mainpurpose of this scenario (see Figure 4) is to providegraphical supercomputer power to users who do nothave such equipment, but who benefit from the remoteaccess. Project members are also investigating ways tointerconnect homogeneous and heterogeneous sets ofsupercomputers over ATM, in order to have one virtualsupercomputer within the consortium.

NetworkThe Visinet project depends heavily on the intercon-

nection of the different European sites involved. Themain backbone is the European ATM network, which

connects the different public network operators (PNOs).Some users without ATM access connect to other sitesthrough ISDN, which has a lower bandwidth.

Figure 5 (next page) depicts the ATM network con-nections, with the respective line speeds for each inter-connection at the maximum rates. In practice, therespective PNOs mostly allocate a lower rate (rangingfrom 2 to 12 Mbits per second, except between the Dutchsites, where a bandwidth of 155 Mbps is available).

For more information on the SuperJanet network

IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 67

Voice (video)

HCIClient Design center

Commands

ImagesImages

Data storage and rendering

1 Remotepresentation.

Commands

Geometric data (batch)

ImagesUser

Computing center

Data storageand rendering

2 Remoteprogram execu-tion.

Voice (video)

HCICollaborativesite

Collaborativesite

Commands

Commands

ImagesImages

Filetransfer

Filetransfer


3 Collaborativework.

User

Supercomputer


Supercomputer

Supercomputer

4 Virtual super-computing.

.

used to connect the UK to the rest of the European ATMnetwork, see Clyne’s article.3 The aggregation ofEuropean PNOs that provide the trans-European ATMlinks is called the James network (formerly the MoU orPNO Pilot).

Integration of ISDNThe Visinet network consists of an ATM backbone

infrastructure among the main sites in the participatingcountries. However, not all users have ATM access attheir sites. Two different approaches give these usersaccess to the network: For high-bandwidth applications,such as real collaborative work in a 3D environment,users can employ the ATM-connected machines at themain sites; for lower-bandwidth applications, such asteleconferencing with low-quality video and a sharedwhiteboard, an ISDN connection suffices. For the latterconnections, some sites even use PCs to discuss the sta-

tus of a design or experimental results.To save on the connection costs when accessing a dis-

tant site, an ISDN-connected user will link to the near-est ATM site and use the ATM network as a carrier to goto another ATM site, where a connection to the otherend user is made (possibly also via ISDN). Softwarerouting over the ATM network aids this kind of connec-tion (as explained in the next section).

Several possible solutions achieve the ISDN-to-ATMintegration, depending on the corresponding projects’site requirements. Because the applications used arebuilt on TCP/IP, all information (data, voice, images,video) is encapsulated in IP packets. IP routing withinthe network establishes a gateway between differentnetworks.

Within the Visinet project, associate partners needISDN access. The principal partners have high-end SGIworkstations equipped with Ethernet, ISDN (BRI, or


68 March-April 1997

University of Leeds

ElectroGIG

PO MvH

CDE2 ×

3 ×

2 ×

2 ×

2 ×

1 ×

Philips

PTT Post

Local ATMswitch

Local ATMswitch

Local ATMswitch

ATMSuperJanet

James34 Mbits/s

LUC

PIMC Androms

Brics

UG and EPFLTCD

UkernaBradford

ET

Division

OAAdetti

ND

EDC

Local ATM switchNPTT

DutchPTT

TelecomPortugal

BritishTelecom

SwissTelecom

Belgacom

IrishTelecomSMDS

ISDN connection128K to 2Mbits/sSMDS connectionMAN connection34 Mbits/s ATM100 Mbit/s ATM155 Mbit/s ATM

Local ATMswitch

5 ATM networkconnectiondiagram.

.

basic rate interface), and ATM interfaces, letting themestablish the following communication paths:

■ BRI ISDN users can establish a virtual circuit consist-ing of one or two B-channels. This path starts direct-ly from their workstation or PC, via a router, or via aterminal adapter (always one B-channel), dependingon the end-user equipment’s interface. It then goesthrough the ISDN network to the ISDN board in theSGI machine of their principal site. With a router, data

compression is possible. The SGI machine has IP rout-ing functionality, so it can send the data over the ATMnetwork to the destination site (see Figure 6).

■ PRI (primary rate interface) ISDN users can establisha virtual circuit consisting of one or more B-channelsto a router equipped with a PRI ISDN interface andlocated at the principal site. This router can transmitthe data over Ethernet to the SGI machine, whichtakes care of the routing over ATM (Figure 7).

■ A more project/site independent solution consists of


Associated partner

Principal partner

RS-232BRI

BRI1 B-channel

BRIBRI

1 or 2 B-channel(s)

PNO

ISDN

2 B-channels

TCP/IP

MLPPP

TCP/IP

RFC 1483

AALS

TCP/IP

PPP

Terminal adapterEthernet

801 machine

ATM

6 ISDN-ATMintegration overBRI.

Associated partner Principal partner

BRI1 B-channelPRI

PNO

ISDN

TCP/IP

MLPPP

TCP/IP

RFC 1483

AALS

TCP/IP

802.3

Ethernet

Ethernet

PRI

TCP/IP

802.3

ATM

7 ISDN-ATMintegration overPRI.

.

installing an ATM interface in the router. This routercan be placed centrally in the network to give differ-ent sites Euro-ISDN connections and let them seetheir IP traffic being routed on the ATM network. ThePNO also proposes this solution, by promoting IP overATM in favor of VP (virtual path) bearer and byinstalling routers to access the James network. SeeFigure 8.

Software routing capabilitiesNote that the European ATM network (currently run

by the James project) remains experimental. To makethis kind of service available on a commercial basisrequires addressing some practical deficiencies. One sig-nificant shortcoming is the lack of automatic connec-tion. This means that all ATM connections have to berequested quite some time before actual use. Visinetsolves the interconnection of distant ISDN users byassigning another partner’s workstation as a softwarerouter.

Consider the situation depicted in Figure 9. Supposesites A and B simultaneously request a logical connec-tion through James to site C, but would benefit fromhaving an occasional connection to each other. In thiscase, the workstation used at site C can be configuredto act as a software router between A and B.

The Visinet trials and workshops have used this solu-tion frequently. It also allows for inclusion of non-ATMhosted workstations in the network. Configuring theATM workstation at site C as a router between its local(Ethernet) network and the ATM cloud lets any systemin the same local network be accessed from other sitesthrough ATM and vice versa. This lets sites invest in onlyone ATM connection while permitting more users andmore workstations in connections over the ATM net-


70 March-April 1997

Associated partner

Associated partner

RS-232

BRI

BRIPRI

BRI1 B-channel

PRI

BRI 1 or 2 B-channel(s)

1 B- channel

PNO

ISDN 2 B-channels

TCP/IP

MLPPP

TCP/IP

RFC 1483

AAL5

TCP/IP

8023Terminaladapter

Ethernet

ATM

TCP/IP

PPP orMLPPP

BRI

8 ISDN-ATMintegration viarouter.

James

Physical correctionLogical correction

C

A B9 Softwarerouting.

10 InPerson’s XTeleScreen.

.

work. Of course, we must take into account that the end-to-end bandwidth will be limited by the slowest con-nection in the network.

ApplicationsThe Visinet project used the following applications

environments:

■ Videoconferencing with shared whiteboard usingInPerson’s XTeleScreen (see Figure 10)

■ ElectroGIG’s 3D-GO for 3D modeling (see Figure 11)■ Virtual reality using Division’s dVS and dVise■ VLNet,4 developed jointly by EPFL-LIG and Miralab,

University of Geneva (see Figure 12)■ Virtual supercomputing by remote access (VRnet, see

Figure 13) and distributed virtual reality

Performance measurements came from a walkthrough(at a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels) in a 3D scene. Thescene consists of several roads, along which networkequipment appears in different configurations; the end-user equipment is shown in the building interiors. Figure13 shows a snapshot of this VRnetapplication.

To assess the client-server appli-cation, we ran the application local-ly on an Indy, then remotely betweenthis Indy and an Onyx RE2. The localapplication rendered 0.2 frames persecond (one frame every five sec-onds), while an ATM connection(with a real bandwidth of less than70 Mbps) delivered 5 frames per sec-ond. This represents a performanceincrease by a factor of 25.

Since we did not have more band-width available, real-time interac-tion (25 frames per second) was notpossible. Therefore, we must look atways to reduce the amount of datasent over the ATM network connec-tion. For example, generating only8 bits per pixel (using ditheredimages or black-and-white) reducesthe amount of data by a factor ofthree, which yields real-time speed.We have already used this techniqueto reduce the required bandwidthwhen running this application overa frame-relay connection (at 2Mbps) to a PC. We have yet to inves-tigate the use of hardware compres-sion (and decompression).

Bandwidth andthroughput

During the trial, project membersmeasured bandwidth use, whichobviously depends on the applica-tion used. Table 1 on the next pageshows some typical figures for thedifferent scenarios.


11 XTeleScreenplus 3D-GO.

12 VLNet.

13 Snapshotfrom a VRnetapplication.

.

Remote presentation relies mainly on videoconfer-encing with the shared whiteboard—the bandwidth usegoes to the video and to the transfer of images in thewhiteboard. (Please note that the application used is notoptimized for the ATM network.)

Remote program execution shows very differentbandwidth uses. But since the majority of graphics callshave to be transferred over the connection, all availablebandwidth is used.

Collaborative work can use either a single applicationwith replication of the I/O (for example, XTeleScreenplus 3D-GO) or a local application with a local databaseat each site and exchange of interaction parameters(movement of the user’s virtual body or virtual objects,for example). In the former case, just one site shouldhost the shared application (and possibly a powerfulcomputer) while using more bandwidth (typicallyaround 5 Mbps); in the latter case, each site hosts a copyof the application and database (and preferably a pow-erful computer) while consuming very little bandwidth(typically about 100 Kbps).

The virtual supercomputing application for which wehave made measurements, VRnet, uses all availablebandwidth. In this application, a remote graphics super-computer receives navigational parameters from a (low-

end) client workstation, generates3D images in real time, and sendsthese images to the client worksta-tion. Because of the high volume ofdata contained in the imagesequences, the full bandwidth isused (possibly even filling a full 155-Mbps link, when available).

Project resultsWithin the time frame of the

Visinet trial, project members devel-oped and supported a number ofreal-world projects. We describe themost representative ones here.

PTT PostThe PTT Post division of the

Dutch PTT requested the EuropeanDesign Centre in Eindhoven todesign two new distribution centers.EDC created the visualizations (seeFigures 14 and 15) and used remotepresentation to PTT Research’spremises in Leidschendam, wherethey could use equipment with anATM connection to EDC. The partiesused InPerson to discuss the results.

This project will continue into thevisualization’s next phases, consist-ing of a VR model of the distributioncenters and a 3D animation repre-senting the logistics within each dis-tribution center. The VR model andthe animation will be created at theEDC and presented in real time overthe ATM network. Remote render-

ing facilities might be used.

Eindhoven’s West Corridor planThe city of Eindhoven’s West Corridor plan included

designing a new train station, creating a large green areain the city center, planning a route for the new publictransportation system, and designing a tunnel for thehighway. In addition, some of the existing buildingsneeded restoration. The functional proposal includedthe following points:

■ Restore some of the existing industrial buildings■ Restore the old heating plant as an archaeological

asset, perhaps as a museum■ Build a shopping center along the railway, including

offices and commercial areas■ Build houses and residential dwellings in the affect-

ed area■ Give priority to underground parking, parks and

green areas, and houses

Project members used the Visinet network accesspoint at Adetti in Portugal, plus its software and hard-ware facilities, to translate the geometry and images pre-pared in AutoCAD into the appropriate data formats for


72 March-April 1997

Table 1. Measurements for the different scenarios.

Scenario Maximum Bandwidth (Mbps)

Remote Presentation 2.82 (ATM LAN)2.532 (ATM WAN)0.112 (BRI ISDN plus Ethernet plus ATM)

Remote Execution 9.6 (all available bandwidth)Collaborative Work 4.8 (joint editing)

0.1 (joint VR-walkthrough design evaluation over ATM)0.064 (joint VR-walkthrough design evaluation over ISDN)

Remote Supercomputing 9.6 (all available—remote use of graphics supercomputing)0.1 (VR for design evaluation)

14 Exteriorview of the PTTPost distribu-tion centerdesign.

15 Interiorview of the PTTPost distribu-tion centerdesign.

.

dVise. Oficina de Arquitectura (OA)in Lisbon then presented its work tothe clients in several virtual meet-ings over the Visinet network, usingboth the EDC access point in theNetherlands and the Adetti accesspoint.

For the presentations, projectmembers first set up the audio-videochannel between the two parties,permitting some brief conversationswith visual feedback. Then a collab-orative slide presentation tookplace, using InPerson’s sharedwhiteboard as the support tool (seeFigure 10). During this session, theOA representatives and theEindhoven architect jointly dis-cussed several aerial views of thearea and images showing the phas-es of the urban planning project.Finally, the participants engaged ina joint virtual walkthrough of the 3Dscenarios for the proposed designs.They used the dVise tool whilemaintaining the videoconferenceparallel channel. Since the 3D vir-tual world includes a representationof each person’s head and hand (twovirtual bodies), OA just had to set upa social protocol for the Eindhovenparticipant to follow the OA repre-sentative’s virtual body at all timesduring the virtual tour.

The city developers used thegraphics to evaluate the results oftheir plans and to present the resultsto the city council. (For some of theresults, see Figures 16 and 17.)

Philips chip-card terminalPhilips Development Workshop

produces prototypes for otherPhilips divisions and third-partycompanies. PDW processed a pub-lic-transport chip-card reader into aCAD model, then subsequently senttheir CAD data to the EuropeanDesign Centre. This Pro Engineermodel was converted to a 3D-GOreadable format. Using InPersonover the ATM network, EDC pre-sented preliminary results to boththe designer and the developer ofthe chip-card reader. After theymodified and tuned the materialspecifications, such as colors, anddefined the right camera angles, thefinal images were ray traced andsent back to PDW (see Figure 18).The same model was used to pro-duce a stereolithography prototype.


16 Design ofcity center.

17 Aerial per-spective ofEindhoven.

18 Chip-cardreader’s finaldesign.

.

This cooperative working method reduces the timeneeded for prototype modifications. In this project, italso allowed users to use supercomputing performanceat a distance and enhanced communication betweendevelopers.

Philips Medical Systems scannerFor Philips Medical Systems, the Limburg University

Centre in Belgium made a virtual model of new medicalscanning equipment, starting from an existing design.The virtual model is imported into dVise, which lets thedesigner walk around the machine, look at the interfaceand monitors, and take the patient’s position, before aphysical model is made. This project aimed to testergonomic properties of the new equipment, such as thepositioning of the monitors, the transport rails, or thepatient’s “bed.” The Philips designers and the LUC devel-opers walked through the virtual environment to dis-cuss the results. Project participants next plan to extendthe environment to include the operating room wherethe equipment normally resides.

Trade Centre EindhovenThis project is in the initial definition phase. The “vir-

tual” Trade Centre Eindhoven project was initiated bythe Visinet consortium to involve all “user partners” ina single collaborative working project. The TCE projectis unique in involving all disciplines within Visinet. Theproject as formulated will cover the complete develop-ment of a new trade center for the city of Eindhoven,including the disciplines of urban development, archi-tecture, industrial design, interior design, and graphicdesign.

The Eindhoven Urban Planning Department, whichhandles urban infrastructure and facilities planning, willhelp organize the TCE’s location in Meerhoven. TheOficina de Arquitectura architects will participate indeveloping the first architectural concepts with inputfrom the other partners. NovoDesign, Moons & VanHoof Industrial Design, and Plaza Ontwerpers will pro-vide input from disciplines such as furniture design, inte-rior design of removable or flexible systems forexhibitions and other events, design of high-tech com-munications, and parking system design.

The basic motivation behind this collaborative work-ing approach arose from the perceived value of havingdifferent disciplines collaborate at an early stage. Theparticipants will demonstrate a truly collaborativeworking project, at the same time demonstrating thefour proposed Visinet scenarios and their associatedbenefits.

User evaluationConsortium partners Analysys, a telecom consultan-

cy firm, and the Telecommunications Users’ Foundationare responsible for the user evaluation. The nature ofthe technology involved means that researching itseffects cannot be confined to technical performance orto the immediate impact on how specific tasks are car-ried out. They need to measure what effect the projecthas on business and organizational practices and struc-tures, and determine how to measure this impact in

financial and usability terms. If they can provide suchmeasurements, the results of the Visinet trial can serveas a model for assessing the wider potential of the technology.

Objectives in measuring the project’s effects included

■ assessing trial users’ perceptions of the technology’simpact on their business, both directly and on otheraspects of the business and organization;

■ gauging actual use and comparing this with expecta-tions;

■ measuring the predictability of use patterns, to iden-tify where new and unexpected uses occur; and

■ measuring the technology’s performance as an inputto the measurement of costs and benefits.

The potential benefits consolidate into several majorareas:

■ Reduce overall operating costs■ Improve overall product and process quality■ Reduce time to market■ Save time and travel■ Open up new commercial opportunities■ Improve decision making■ Reengineer the organization and its working

practices

Future researchThe Visinet environment has enabled the linking of

collaborative 3D design applications over high-speedATM networks. Results to date, albeit with limited band-width on some network links, have demonstrated theadvantages of letting multiple users interact in real timeand the acceleration of critical parts of the design-to-product cycle. In addition, demonstrations and work-shops have highlighted the impact that collaborativedesign across national boundaries can have on localcompanies and organizations.

Visinet participants are currently exploring possibil-ities for further links between new companies. Oneimportant issue is to evaluate how far new technologiessuch as those used in Visinet will change existing prac-tices in companies as the cost of high-speed networksfalls. The rapid growth of business use of the Internetfor training, retailing, document distribution, marketresearch, and communications has demonstrated thatnetwork access changes traditional business methods.

Two additional projects use the Visinet infrastructure.MAID (Multimedia Assets for Industrial Design), sup-ported by the European Commission InformationEngineering section of the Telematics Applications pro-gram, is developing network-based multimedia data-bases for designers. Vista (Virtual Interactive StudioApplications using Networked Graphical Super-computers), supported by the European CommissionEsprit High-Performance Computing and Networkingprogram, is an interactive virtual studio for supportingdrama scenarios controlled by remote users. We antic-ipate that developments in both projects will furtherdemonstrate the benefits of distributed collaborationover ATM networks. ■


74 March-April 1997

.

AcknowledgmentsWe acknowledge the good working relationship with-

in the Visinet consortium. In particular, we thank MiguelDias from Adetti, Harald Govers from EDC, and Luc VanDer Elstraeten from Alcatel for their contributions to thisarticle. We would also like to thank the staff of theExpertise Centre for Digital Media for their support, andespecially Bruno Rassaerts and David Nouls for muchof the implementation of the remote VR software,VRnet. We wish to thank Belgacom (the Belgian tele-com operator and national subhost) and Alcatel Bell fortheir collaborative support. Part of this work has beenfunded by the European Commission, through the pro-jects RACE TEN-IBC Visinet B2007 and B3007. The soft-ware names are trademarks of their respectivetrademark holders.

References1. R.A. Earnshaw, “Visinet and G7 Ministers’ Meeting,” UK

Graphics and Visualization Newsletter, No. 40, April 1995,p. 6.

2. R.A. Earnshaw and A.B. Haigh, “Virtual Reality Trial overATM,” UK Graphics and Visualization Newsletter, No. 39,Feb. 1995, pp. 5-7.

3. L. Clyne, “SuperJanet, ATM/Video Network—Pilot Servicefrom 1 June 1994,” UK Graphics and Visualization Newslet-ter, No. 37, Oct. 1994, pp. 5-6.

4. I. Pandzic et al., “VLNet: A Networked Multimedia 3D Envi-ronment with Virtual Humans,” Proc. Multimedia Model-ing (MMM 95), World Scientific Publishers, Singapore,1995, pp. 21-32.

Rae Earnshaw is Professor andHead of Electronic Imaging and MediaCommunications at the University ofBradford, UK. His research interestsinclude imaging, graphics, visualiza-tion, animation, multimedia, virtualreality, media, art, design, and the

convergence of computing, telephony, imaging, digitalmedia, networking, and broadcasting.

Earnshaw obtained his PhD in computer science fromthe University of Leeds. He is a member of the editorialboards of The Visual Computer and IEEE ComputerGraphics and Applications, editor-in-chief of Virtual Real-ity: Research, Development, and Applications, vice pres-ident of the Computer Graphics Society, chair of the BritishComputer Society Computer Graphics and Displays Group,and a fellow of the British Computer Society. He is a mem-ber of ACM, IEEE, and Eurographics.

Eddy Flerackers is Professor ofcomputer science at the Limburg Uni-versity Centre in Diepenbeek, Bel-gium. He is Chairman of theInformatics Department at the Lim-burg University Centre and Director ofthe Expertise Centre for Digital Media.

His research activities are in computer graphics, comput-er animation, virtual reality, multimedia, and telematics.

Flerackers is cofounder of three spin-off companies inmultimedia and computer graphics. He is executive editorof the Virtual Reality Journal, a member of ACM, IEEE,the Computer Graphics Society, and Eurographics, and afellow of the Virtual Reality Society.

Joao Mena de Matos is Managerof Digital Technology at the EuropeanDesign Centre, Eindhoven, TheNetherlands. His technical interestsinclude CAD/CAM, collaborativedesign, visualization, virtual envi-ronments, multimedia, ATM net-

working, high-performance computing, interactivetelevision, virtual studios, and globalization of industry.He is on the board of directors of the European MultimediaForum and the Centre for International Technology andEducation, and an adviser on digital technology policy tothe Eindhoven Academy of Industrial Design.

Frank Van Reeth is Professor ofcomputer science at the Limburg Uni-versity Centre in Diepenbeek, Bel-gium. His research interests at theuniversity’s Expertise Centre for Digi-tal Media include computer graphics,virtual reality, computer animation,

multimedia technology, and telematics. Van Reeth iscofounder of three spin-off companies in multimedia andcomputer graphics. He is a member of ACM, IEEE, the Com-puter Graphics Society, Eurographics, and the VirtualReality Society.

Wim Lamotte is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the LimburgUniversity Centre in Diepenbeek, Bel-gium. His research interests at the uni-versity’s Expertise Centre for DigitalMedia include 3D graphics, anima-tion, simulation, virtual reality, net-

working, broadband communications, and networkedmultimedia. He obtained his Masters degree in 1988 at theFree University of Brussels and his PhD in 1994 at the Lim-burg University Centre in Diepenbeek, Belgium. Lamotte isa member of the Virtual Reality Society.

Readers may contact Earnshaw at Head of ElectronicImaging and Media Communications, University of Brad-ford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK, e-mail [email protected]. Further information is available on theWorld Wide Web at URL http://www.eimc.brad.ac.uk/.


.

Visinet: Collaborative 3D Visualization and VR over ATM Networks

Documents